Live Like an Athlete II – 2024 

The dust is beginning to settle after an incredible few days in Portugal running our Live Like An Athlete Event. Last year when we decided to run an event in Portugal based on the concept of living the way elite athletes do by training twice daily, eating incredible food, learning the tools for enhanced performance and connecting with like-minded people, we could never have imagined where it would go and how it would unfold. Just like the cliché of a photo can never capture the experience of what you see in real life, the words I write here can in no way encapsulate the emotions, special moments, connections and energy that was created among 21 people who didn’t know each other before coming together. Why was it such a big success? People came with an open mind, a willingness to learn and a willingness to give it their full effort and commitment. That is a lot to give when you don’t know what to expect.

A summary of the concept and an outline of a typical day 

• Fitness assessments
• Training and education twice daily
• Balanced, delicious and nourishing meals
• Educational seminars and practical nutrition workshops
• Dinner together in the evening
• Endless positive laughs and fun

A Typical Day at the Event 

07:30: Light Pre-Training Breakfast

08.00: Wellness checking and reflection with DN team member

08.45: Mindfulness

09.15: Walk to training

09.30: Warm up and training (strength)

10:30: Breakfast

11:00: Workshop on goal setting, nutrition, mindset

12:30: Lunch

14:00: Workshop on gut health and stress management

15:30: Training (aerobic fitness)

17:00: Day end

19:00: Dinner at the villa – cook together

22:00: Bed

What Happened?

Something very special unfolded. People brought the very best of themselves, the right mindset, 100% of what they could do in training and trust in what we are trying to help people with. What’s that? Let’s start with what it’s not. It’s not a holiday in the sun where you simply train and eat nice food, you can get that somewhere else or you can do it alone. This is about performance, this is about stepping out of your comfort zone and knowing that it will feel uncomfortable at times. With that uncomfortable feeling comes growth!

What are we trying to achieve?

We want people to have the tools to deal with life’s challenges, understand what it means to be consistent and how consistency is built through a process, a phased approach to building better habits for health and enhanced performance. Better sleeping habits and practices, enhanced knowledge of nutrition, meal planning strategies, exercises and movements relevant to your performance goal and building mental skills to deal with challenges in life. Learning the value of acceptance, positive self-talk and the ability to reframe situations when you need to.

Who do you want to be?

We want people to have a deeper understanding of who they are now, where they are in relation to what they want to achieve and a sustainable higher path to better physical and mental performance. That comes from considering your ‘identity’ and who you want to be. The questions asked are not always easy to answer but they are not supposed to be. Who are you? Who do you want to be? Some have thought about it and some haven’t, and that’s ok.     

What people said about the experience:

“The nutrition education was a game changer for me, how I am going to plan my meals around my training, I am just so excited to see how it impacts me.” 

“This whole experience was life changing”

“I keep thinking of all the funny moments, the laughs, my heart is so full”

“A massive thank you to you and your team for such an incredible few days. You and the team have created something very special and unique, it was a life changing experience for me and one I will always cherish.” 

“From the bottom of my heart I genuinely can’t thank you and your team enough. I loved every second of it”

What we as a team learned about the experience

As this was our second time running an event like this we were much more confident about our delivery. We have had a year of building clarity about who we are as a team, our process of working through the phases of building a clear vision, the education around the pillars of performance; Exercise, Sleep, Nutrition and Mindset, but we also learned so much from this experience.

We learned that laughter, practical learning and having fun is a core part of building a connection to the information and creating a meaningful experience and memories. Being together in one place is also vital to allow relationships to grow quickly and to establish a foundation of trust. 

We learned that it’s about giving people the space to try things and get truly immersed in the experience so they can feel what it’s like to learn a new skill.

Importantly, we also learned that while we want everyone to have the craic, let their hair down and express themselves, there can be a low that can follow the ‘high’! Equipping people with the knowledge in advance and putting support in place to help people understand that can happen is part of the process. Coming back down to earth gently.

360 performance

Lastly, we learned that this is much more than a live like an athlete experience, it’s a 360 performance game plan for life and a deeply impactful investment in the mind, soul and body. So many people looked on and asked is this only for athletes? My response, this is for people who have the right mindset, are open to learning and who want to push themselves in life and sport. For that reason, I think we need to change the name of the event and make it feel more accessible. If you train regularly, have a sporting goal and want to learn about the pillars of performance this is simply unmissable. 

Only one elite athlete attended and that was Galway senior footballer Shane Walsh who brought the most incredible attitude to the experience, immersed himself in all the workshops, trained with us and was so down to earth.

What now for Live Like An Athlete?

There is something really special that happened these past 2 years in both events, something so special that it needs to evolve to allow more people to benefit, and feel the richness of giving your body and mind the best possible nourishment that can put you on a higher path. It’s about seeing the very best of people, allowing people the space to be themselves first with people they don’t know and then being the person they should be when they go back to their own lives. I am so proud of my team; Aoife, Eva, Gemma, Kaspars, and Brianna and Lauren who came and supported and added so much energy. Without them this isn’t possible. Finally, I am so grateful to each of the people who came, this concept would be nothing without your belief in us. Now you can not only benefit from better health and performance but support others along the way. Thank you!

Want to join us next year? 

Here is the link to register your interest in our Event next year – Portugal 2025!